Cisco hack suspect convicted of breaking into universities

Double jeopardy

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A Swedish teenager suspected of hacking into the network of Cisco systems has been convicted of cracking into the systems of three local universities.

The unnamed 19-year-old from Uppsala, Sweden, was ordered to pay $25,000 damages to his victims on Monday after a Swedish appeal court overturned a previous acquittal by a district court and found him guilty of seven counts of unauthorised access, AP reports.

The teen, who plans to appeal to the Swedish Supreme Court, was convicted of hacking into the systems of Linköping, Umea, and Uppsala Universities as well as the national supercomputer centre in Linköping during 2004. He was also given a suspended sentence as well as a fine.

He admits creating tools used in the attack, but not perpetrating the assault. "They have destroyed my life before I'm even a grown-up," he toldComputer Sweden.

FBI officials questioned the youngster last year over allegations that he broke into Cisco's network and stole source code, allegations he denies. Samples of the code were posted online after the May 2004 breach. US authorities have put the ongoing investigation into the hands of the Swedes, prosecutor Catherine Rudstrom told AP. ®